Here's some interviews that I recieved with tons of information for fans.
It's still under construction although.
Enjoy everyone!!
Here's some interviews that I recieved with tons of information for fans.
It's still under construction although.
Enjoy everyone!!
Patrick:Hey Tourniquet fans - Im sitting in a café in Ennepetal Germany with the guys in Tourniquet -Ted Kirkpatrick(drums), Aaron Guerra (guitars, vocals), and Luke Easter (vocals). They were nice enough to do this interview with me as they ate dinner before the show. I am hoping to have this interview along with the pictures I took with the band in the first issue of my fanzine called "Auslander" which means for english "foreigner". - but it is taking longer than I thought so I share the interview now, so it is more current. The fanzine means "to be in the world but not of it" like a foreigner.
Patrick: I heard you show in Holland last night was incredible. They told me it started 40 minutes late because so many people trying to get in. How do you find being in Europe again?
Luke: We are really excited to be here again. The fans in Holland are very supportive and wild!
Aaron: Its always cool to see so many people singing along to songs like Vanishing Lessons (one of my favorites. ed)
Patrick: Before we go on, I want to say congradulations on your new deal with Metal Blade Records! There CD's are easy to find here in Germany, and I'm sure in other European countries as well. When do you record and when can we hear the new CD?
Ted: Thanks Patrick - we go into the studio in mid July or so, and the album should be out in Febuary 2000. It is looking to be a very agressive, melodic, and heavy album. Bill Metoyer is producing, so we expect great sounds when he works with us.
Patrick: I agree - I just recently got your "Acoustic Archives" CD, and the production is really great! The new song on there, "trivilizing the momentous, complicating the obvious" is a REALLY heavy and progresive song - one of my favorite of all of Torniquet songs. Bill Metoyer does a great producing - he has done some other of your CD's - PsychoSurgery, Pathogenic, the 2 new songs on Collected Works, and Crawl to China.
Aaron: Yes - we really feel comftorble working with Bill. We feel like he understands what we are after, and can always get the sounds we are looking for.
Patrick: But, I bring up his sounds are not always so good. He has also produced the Echo Hollow album called "diet of Worms". With a thin sound and not good drum sounds and guitar sounding so thin and to many vocal effects. It does not measure up to any Tourniquet sounds.
Luke: Well, I don't think that is Bills doing. A producers job includes getting the sound the band is looking for. Maybe he did not track, or record the basic tracks either.
Aaron: and if the sound coming from the amps or drums is miked, that is the sound that first comes to the tape. Bands go for all different sounds.
Patrick: But why would a band go for a bad sound?
Ted: That is not really a question for us to answer.
Patrick: I have followed your music all along since Stop the Bleeding" I play some guitar so I notice a lot the leads in Tourniquet songs. I think some people think Gary played many great solos on Tourniquet albums. But the people who read and see live the band know that is not so true.
Ted: Who played what leads is gererally listed on all our albums.But for some people,Maybe like a contract. They don't read the fine print.
Patrick: What is fine print?
Luke: The small print that people sometimes skip over without reading.
Patrick: Oh - yes like that. My favorite solos on Tourniquet albums are none played by Gary Lenaire. (I have ALL my Tourniquet CD's here for the band to sign, so I look at song titles) I like Mark Lewis solos on Get What You Pray For, Whitewashed Tomb. and 2 leads of Ark of Suffering. And on my favorite Tourniquet album Psychosurgery, Erik Mendez played all the really great leads. On title track, and Stereotasic Atrocities, the end lead is very great! And of course Viento Borasco,the best and melodic spanish leads. Here, on Pathogenic is Phantom Limb, and middle of Spectrophobic Dimentia. All this leads played by Erik. Why is he left the band?
Ted: He had a painting business, and it was hard for him to travel. Some band problems to, but we still keep in touch with him.
Patrick: (More CD's) On Vanishing Lessons, I like most the lead in Drowning Machine. That does not sound like Gary, so I think it is the M Russo person in credits.
Ted: You are correct.
Patrick: What is the M for?
Luke: Michael.
Patrick: Was he in the band, or a guest guitarist?
Luke: He was in the band a short time, even did a couple shows, but it did not work out.
Patrick: Oh - on to the Collected Works CD. The 2 new songs on it are fantastic! In Germany, they are favorite of many people. Those solos, they sound like the guitarist in Megadeth, Marty Freidman. He has the special style. I listen to all his music and Cacophony to. Is it him, because I read in HM you are friends and see him in a picture with Ted and Aaron..
Ted: Next question, please.
Luke: It was Nigel Tufnle? from Spinaltap. (laughs)
Patrick: What?
Luke: Oh Spinaltap - its a funny movie about a rock band.
Ted: When you visit America, we will watch it with you.
Patrick: OK great.And Crawl to China is Aaron, of course. But we really hear Aaron on "Trivilizing" on the new CD. So good leads, the style and fast! And to play all acoustic leads on new CD, is hard. I try on my acoustic, but to hard!
Aaron: Ted played a few leads on the new CD, and all the albums really. And people know he played the rhythm guitar on almost all the songs he wrote, which is like 70 percent of all Tourniquet songs.
Luke: Ted is a very precise rhythm player and the guitars on many Tourniquet songs sound totally together because Ted played all the parts. We have always had unwritten policy that whoever can play a guitar part the best or cleanest. thats who played it. So a lot of the time, that was Ted.
Patrick: It seems drummers, like Ted or Charlie Benante from Anthrax who also plays guitar have such a great sense for rhythm that they play the part correct and together. I also like Teds lead at the end of "What If I Was There"!
Ted: I can relax now when we record, because Aaron is by far the best rhythm guitar player I have ever worked with. Not to mention his leads rule.
Patrick: I like to talk about what your music represients to so many people and why there is only one Tourniquet band. I see at a site for Tourniquet mp3 and it says under similar bands: Tourniquet. It made me laugh because it is so true, there is no other band with your sound. I can ask a question?
Ted: You can ask anything - but we may not answer everything.
Luke: No butterfly questions Patrick. (laughing)
Patrick: I ask about Echo Hollow. They keep saying similar to early Tourniquet but this is not a truth. What would you say Tourniquet music is about?
Ted: Well for years people tell us they hear these things. Classicaly influenced guitar riffs, great varianse in speed, guitar harmonies, odd time changes, cut time parts, vocals from brutal yelling to clean beautiful harmonies, heavy minor Bach or Bethoven parts, major key beutiful melodiesand medical or alegoricol lyrics always biblically based.
Patrick: Yes, plus very different sounding music! One part in there title track diet of worms is the same as Acidhead, taken from the song! well I and everyone who hears Tourniquet says the same,. We dont hear any of this things you mention in the Echo Hollow music. And dont forget Teds famous musical and technical drumming.
Luke: Oh yeh, we always forget about Ted. (laughs)
Patrick: Yes! Ted's drumming is the best! I see on the Echo site that Guy calls there drummer the man of a million beats. But there is only a fewdrum beats on the CD and not creative, just basic even sometimes not clean played with the snare and bas drums. There is a whole song with drum machine, supposed to be real drums. Why would it not be recorded with drummer playing?
Ted: I dont know. Many others have asked us these same things.
Patrick: I have another thing Tourniquet is known about. Very fast or very melodic bluesy guitar solos. And heavy music! Excuse me but I dont hear any of this things in Echo Hollows music. The music of Tourniquet can be very heavyor very melodic and I dont hear any heavy sounds or the good melody in that music. The parts is sounding major and songs like I already hear from to many other bands, just simple and not heavy guitar or fast and not heavy sounds. Why do they keep saying heavy or original and using the Tourniquet name to sell there CD?
Aaron: Maybe a question for a different interview.
Patrick: We have had Stavesacre here in Germany 2 times or 3 by now. They to have 2 members from an earlier very popular band the Crucified. But you never see them in adsor talking try to use it to sell or compare it to that music. They just use there own band to play great music and dont need the other name. Why does Echo Hollow still do it? They have been together for 3 years or 2?
Luke: Gary was no longer in Tourniquet around September of 1996. They seem to have formed shortly after that.
Patrick: I think they try to write but it is Ted who writes almost all the really great Tourniquet songs on all Tourniquet albums. I read Ted wrote 15 from the 16 number one of Tourniquet singles. Is this right?
Aaron: Its true.
Luke: I think people pretty much know that all the things we just talked about that people know us for., the classical riffs, strange or beautiful melodies, etctetera. Ted is pretty much to blame for nearly all of it. (laughs)
Patrick: Yes, the true Tourniquet fans know this, and is more true with hearing music from past members. Luke - your vocals has very much range in sound and style. How you go from Trivilizing to If I was There - well that is really great. Is it hard to sing so clear after yelling?
Luke: Not really, as long as I am prepared for it. We kind of pace the live show around Teds drumming and my vocals, and of course the crowd energy. We have even done If I was There right in the middle of the show!
Patrick: You are so much more, the word is., variety? Or versitile than Guy was. The Echo Hollow CD vocals of Guy Ritter are really not to good and to much all the same thing over and over. And so much covered by studio effects. I saw Tourniquet at the Cornerstone festival in 1991. I think it is your first time there?
Ted: Yes.
Patrick: Well I liked very much the band, but GuyRitter did not sing in the pitch of the album sometimes and looked not comfrtable or not moving around much on the stage. I think hes not in the band some from that also and not just what he says at the there website or in an interview I read. Is this true?
Ted: We would rather not comment on that. Can we talk about present day Tourniquet please?
Patrick: Ok, Ok. I think your next album on Metal Blade will be really important for the band. Crawl to China was such a great album, but we saw I think not a lot of promotion here in Germany. But the distribution of Metal Blade, well it will be great to get your next album here!
Aaron: We hope to come back after it is out next year and return to Holland and Germany. But play other countries as well. Ted: Like Sweden. We we will try to play there in 2000.
Patrick: You have not played there yet?
Luke: No not yet.
Patrick: How many countries do they know your music?
Ted: I think we get mail from at least 30 countries. Some of them we have no idea how they are fans. Aaron: Ted and I answered some mail a while back and some countries surprised us. Like Korea, Malasia, Macedonia, Czech Republic.
Ted: South Africa to. A lot of fans there. Maybe a show there sometime!
Patrick: I read on the place called Discussion Zone at a Tourniquet site. So many, many people share there story of the faith and hope they get from your music. You have encouraged people to look to God for answeres from their problems. How does this make you feel?
Luke: It kind of blows us away that God is using us to reach people through music.
Ted: My own faith has been encouraged and given me a lot of joy through the years to see God working through this band and working in many peoples lives.
Patrick: Any last words?
Aaron: Thanks for the interview Patrick.
Ted: Hope you enjoy the show tonight.
Luke: Thanks Patrick.
(The Tourniquet show that night was to fantastic! Ed.)